


Now That I Found You

by officialbillhader



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: 100 lifetimes, Alcohol, Alternate Universes, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smut, each chapter can be skipped or read seperately, every chapter is a new au, gang-typical morality, not much of an overeaching plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:40:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 15,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23418391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officialbillhader/pseuds/officialbillhader
Summary: Dennis had been a rockstar once, devouring praises from the crowd and falling in love with a man at a bar he frequented. Mac had stolen a cab from his friend Dee once and made starry eyes at the driver. The scenarios tended to repeat: they would meet, they would fall in love, they would live their lives as seemed fit. Sometimes they both remembered- sometimes only one remembered- and other times neither of them remembered, plagued by feelings of deja vú.But the feelings always stayed the same. They would love each other as fiercely as possible in each life time until the next.
Relationships: Mac McDonald/Dennis Reynolds
Comments: 11
Kudos: 37





	1. Canon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter lengths will vary heavily. I will make sure to say whether it is safe for work or not safe for work, as well as any possible triggers as I will not put these in the tags (cause otherwise the tags will become insanely long).
> 
> I'm using this to practice and to get ideas out of my head before I think I can handle writing another 10k fic (I can't.) I'll try to update every day, hence the varying length.
> 
> Title comes from "Now That I Found You" by Carly Rae Jepsen.
> 
> Summary made possible by user Lumieerie.
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

It's a constant fucking game they play. Dancing around each other in circles, sidestepping eachother's feet, hands only inches from each other, lips always a foot away. It's all ridiculous. Dennis isn't stupid. Maybe Mac is, but Dennis isn't. 

He used to be in control of Mac. They used to fall together easily. Sure, Mac was bossy, but that was easier to handle than this Mac that wants constant direction as if he isn't middle-aged and perfectly capable of existing without Dennis. 

He has a suspicion it comes from him leaving for so long, that Mac is so scared of him leaving again that he makes himself as dependent as possible on him so he'd feel guilty if he left again. Or maybe Dennis is fucking delusional and Mac has just become insane with his crush on him. He doesn't know. He knows a lot of things, but he's never known Mac. 

And he's never quite known how he feels about Mac.

Again, it's all a game. A fucking rollercoaster. He misses Mac, he wants to kiss Mac, fuck Mac, but he _doesn't_ , because that would make everything so needlessly complicated when what they have, or _used_ to have was good in its own right, and what they have now is just fucked up. It used to be easier to look at Mac's lips and not want to kiss them, it used to be easier to hold his arm and not want to grab his hand, it used to be easier to comb down a stray piece of hair and not want to wrap his hands in his hair and shove his head down until his breath ghosts over his crotch. But nothing's fucking easy, because things always fucking change. Because Dennis thought he could leave for a year and a half and not come home realizing that seeing his best friend makes it so he can finally breathe, and he foolishly thought that his best friend, his roommate, his partner in real estate, his _boy toy_ , wouldn't miss him and that if he did he wouldn't care. But he did care. He cared like a motherfucker.

And he still cares now as Mac annoys the shit out of him day in and day out as he tries to prove himself to Dennis, even though he did that back in high school. It's not some competition. Dennis isn't going to leave Mac. He tried. It didn't fucking work.

So they'll just keep dancing around each other, Mac too much of a coward to make any type of move that convinces Dennis that kissing him back is worth it, and Dennis not trying to figure out what exactly it is that Mac wants him to do, because he doesn't care but, really, it's unfair of Mac to think that Dennis could ever possibly figure it out. It isn't Dennis's responsibility to fix the shitshow that is their relationship now. Somehow, he knows it will never be fixed. Things never go back to when they worked better.

Dennis just hopes it all doesn't collapse on them and suddenly their dance makes so little sense that they have stop and rethink the moves, because the moment that happens, it's all over, they have to get off the rollercoaster, they have to actually talk about what's happening between them.

Dennis never wants that. So for now, he'll just make sure he gets all the moves right, doesn't step on Mac's foot, keeps being tall enough to ride this ride, and he'll hope that one day Mac decides to stop pushing.


	2. Grendel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

"I know you're there," Mac timidly says, his voice not conveying the confidence he's exerting as he stays on his hands and knees, staring at the bright blue eyes looking back at him. "Can I see you?" he asks.

The monster blinks, slowly. A clawed hand comes out from the shadows towards Mac and Mac's breath hitches. 

"Are you going to hurt me?" he says. The monsters makes no sound, but its hand stops, hesitates, then makes its way back to its body. The shadows are overwhelming where it sits, but normally Mac can see everywhere under his bed. He checks every night. This is the first time he's found something. He's scared, of course, but he's also excited. He has wanted a monster under his bed every since he read a book where a little boy like him became friends with his monster. Sure, this monster's hand looks scarier than the one in the book, but that's okay. Mac can be friends with this monster. It just needs to come out from under the bed. 

"What's your name?" 

The monster blinks again. The shadow starts to liften and suddenly Mac can see sharp teeth and bulging eyes and nostrils without a nose and he has to remind himself to breathe again. This monster is a lot scarier than the one from the book. 

Mac takes a deep breath. "Can you come out? My knees hurt." 

The monster thinks about it, then slowly starts to crawl towards Mac. His body is as grotesque as his head. He's still oddly human, but his limbs are disproportional and his neck is too long and his hand is more claws then fingers, but Mac can get over the looks. He can be friends with this monster. Mac smiles at it to encourage it to keep coming out.

It doesn't crawl like Mac does. Its movements are jerky and underperformed. Mac sits back on his heels as the monster finally finishes its journey out from under the bed. 

The monster is young. Mac can see it in the blue of its eyes, the innocence permeating over the anxiety at seeing Mac close up. 

"It's okay. I'm scared too," Mac says. The monsters shifts until its sitting down, on the same level as Mac. It keeps its gaze steady. 

"What's your name?" 

Mac waits patiently, but the monster stays silent. It gets easier to look at as Mac gets used to it, the fear lessening and giving Mac room to look at it with unbiased eyes. 

"Can you not talk?" 

The silence continues and Mac takes that as a yes. 

"That's okay. I can give you a name, if that's okay." 

The monster doesn't give a negative reaction and Mac starts to think of a name, until he gets it. 

"Your name is Dennis." It's the name of the monster from the book. 

Dennis smiles, lips pulled back to expose sharp teeth. 

Somehow, Mac knows he's safe.


	3. Gallows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW-ish (mentions only). Triggers: mentions of murder, hanging, and whipping.

The air is desperate with the anxiety of the two men in the cell. They grope and touch each other as much as possible. When the next night comes, Mac is to lead Dennis to the gallows down the hall, is to tighten a rope around his neck, and is to pull the lever that will send him to his death. It’s not as if Mac is eager to do this to Dennis, but it is a part of his job; it must be done. 

Mac deepens their kiss, biting at Dennis’s bottom lip and pulling it into his mouth. Dennis starts to scratch at Mac’s back with those nails that are only short because Dennis files them down on the concrete blocks of his cell so he can properly finger fuck Mac. They do this every night. They make out like uncontrollable teenagers and they fuck like a married couple on their honeymoon. It is all Mac does during his shift as the night prison guard of this floor. The other prisoners make no mention of it to the day guards so long as Mac does not care enough to put a stop to their fights and illegal trades. All of it be damned when Mac has Dennis.

Dennis stops scratching at Mac’s back and instead grips his uniform with the same desperation that is the in air, the same anxiety of what is to come. He breaks off their kiss and breathes heavily, his voice shaky as if he is on the brink of tears. Mac threads his hands into Dennis’s greasy hair, softly running his fingers through it in an attempt to comfort Dennis. He gives Dennis a moment to catch his breath before he takes his swollen lips in a soft kiss. It is short lived and once it is done Dennis tightens his hold on Mac’s clothes. 

“You must save me, Ronald,” he breathes out. Mac looks at him. 

“You know the arrangement, Reynolds,” he says, but it burns his throat. The arrangement was thrown out the second Mac realized how he knew Dennis and fell in love. It feels like it was something of the ancient times, though it was established only two months ago. Mac was supposed to let go once it was Dennis’s turn at the gallows and Dennis was supposed to let him let go. There would be no fight, no pleading, no bargaining. But not only was that made before the recognition and love, it was also made before Mac was to be the one to hang him. Something had happened recently that had made the warden come to Mac and tell him he had to do it and Mac hadn’t fought because there really is no fight with the warden. If Mac had cried over the idea shortly after the warden left, well, that was Mac’s business and Mac’s business only. 

Mac catches sight of the expression on Dennis’s furious expression before he is pushing Mac to the opposite side of the thin cot. 

“Damn the arrangement! You are to kill me tomorrow!” he yells. It makes Mac’s stomach clench. 

“You knew what you were doing when you murdered that innocent lady,” he shoots back. Dennis grunts, still angry, but he doesn’t try to deny what he did. He knows what he did and he’s not in this situation because he thought he could deny it.

“We will see each other in the next lifetime,” Mac says, gently, to make up for snapping at Dennis. The words do not help soften Dennis.

“I would like to stay in this one. You must do _something_ , Ronald. I do not want to die.”

“What would you like me to do, Reynolds? Break you out?” 

Mac means for the suggestion to sound ridiculous and impossible, but Dennis’s face lights up and he nods. “Yes,” he says.

“The life of an outlaw is not a good life,” Mac tries to backtrack. Breaking out Dennis is not apart of the arrangement. 

“We only have to be outlaws until we make it to the next country.”

Mac studies Dennis. Mac has never understood Dennis, has never fully been able to read him. In no lifetime that he can think of has he understood him. It’s not apart of their destiny to understand, only to find and love each other as long as they can.

As long as they can.

Mac believes in destinies. How could he not? He lives the same destiny over and over again. His destiny is as natural as his existence. He is born to find and love Dennis. 

As long as they can.

It wouldn’t be hard to break Dennis out. No other guard on this floor is on duty at night. He has no family back in town, nothing to keep him in the country. If they make it a couple of towns over overnight, they’re unlikely to be found and punished. If he does this, he won’t have to kill Dennis, won’t have to live with the constant guilt that comes with hanging a man, no matter what the crime he committed may be. Except, Dennis deserves to be killed. If Mac breaks him out, what’s to stop him from murdering another young lady as gruesomely as he did the first time? He is a capable man. Why does he not deserve to die just because Mac is destined to love him? 

As long as they can.

“How do I know you won’t murder again? What makes you different from the other godless murderers? What would stop you?”

“ _You_ ,” Dennis smoothly says. “You can introduce me to God. I will repent, but I can only do so if I am not hung. How will I repent if I’m dead?”

They will love each other as long as they can. Mac loves Dennis. There is a reason he denied every young lady’s advances when he was younger. He was waiting for the lawless, godless murderer that sits in front of him right now. He was waiting for his chance to change the lawless, godless murderer. 

Mac breaks. He can’t kill Dennis; he can’t watch Dennis be killed. It will be easier for him to watch Dennis kill another person that it would be for Mac to pull that lever tomorrow night. 

“I will whip you once we get to Scotland,” Mac gives in. He sees the slimy smile Dennis wears as he hears the words. “I will whip you until you praise God as you should have been doing from the start. Your silver tongue will not get you out of it. Do you understand, Reynolds?”

“Yes, Ronald,” he replies. 

Mac gets off the cot and grabs the candle as he goes to the door. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Be ready.” The door opens, then closes, leaving Dennis in only moonlight that makes its way in from the small window. 

He takes a deep breath. He isn’t going to die. Not tomorrow, at least. He can take a whipping over death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does it say about me that I was excited to write this after I thought of the idea? (It says that I spent a long time writing this instead of studying for my accounting test tomorrow) (I really hope it's written decently) (Please leave a comment)


	4. Adoption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.
> 
> They can't always be bastards, you know?

There's a letter in the mail. Which makes sense, letters come through the mail, but this is a letter he and Dennis have been waiting for for at least a few years. They'd been as patient as possible, but with each passing day their nursery has felt more and more empty. They're ready. They're in their thirties, they have stable jobs, they have plenty of love to share. Most importantly, they want a child.

Mac holds their future in the one little envelope in his hands. His hands tremble and he ends up so focused on this letter that he leaves all the other mail in the mailbox without meaning to. He walks into the house as if in a trance, staring down at the letter and not even looking up once he stops in front of Dennis. 

"Whatchu got?" Dennis asks upon noticing Mac is next to him. Mac holds the letter out to him and he gently takes it. 

"Is this...?" he asks, trailing off when Mac nods. "Have you opened it?" Mac shakes his head. "Do you want me to?" 

"Yes," Mac says, then breathily adds, "Please." 

Dennis gives a small half smile to Mac and pulls him in close, making Mac put his head on his shoulder. He kisses Mac on the forehead. 

"Whatever this letter says, we still have each other, yeah?" he whispers. 

"Yeah, we do," Mac agrees. But because he can't help himself, he says, "I want a child though."

"So do I," Dennis says. He takes a deep breath. His hands are steady unlike Mac's, but Mac can feel how tense his shoulders are and he can tell how anxious he is with the way he opens the letter, messing up in certain spots where he normally would never mess up. Mac has seen Dennis open letters perfectly with nothing but his fingernail. Eventually, he opens it enough to get the paper out and he unfolds it slowly.

Mac covers his face with Dennis's shoulder. He doesn't want to see the letter, nor does he want to see Dennis's reaction.

A moment passes. Dennis's shoulder relaxes and Mac subconsciously takes that a good sign. He looks up from Dennis's shoulder and sees his face. 

His heart drops down to his feet. 

Dennis has never looked more downstrucken. His mouth is set in a deep frown and his eyebrows are turned up and his eyes are desperately scanning over the paper. 

"What does it say?" 

"It says... I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. We've been rejected." 

There are tears in Mac's eyes before Dennis finishes speaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But idk theyre still bastards.
> 
> This should not have taken me two days to write oh my gosh


	5. Rockstar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look a chapter that's mentioned in the summary
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

Dennis Reynolds is sitting across the bar from where Mac is. No security is near him, no girls on him, no one but Mac looking at him, which makes no sense, because it's Dennis Reynolds. International rockstar, voted sexiest man alive, seller of over a hundred million albums, Super Bowl half time show performer.

Mac can't figure out how he's the only one who's noticed him. He's keeping to himself, but it's not like he's disguised himself or trying to keep attention away from himself. He's just sitting there, drinking a Coors Light like any average person. Like Mac. 

Mac finishes his beer and tries to gesture to the bartender to get another one. She doesn't seem like a very attentive bartender, but it also seems like she has some men at the other side of the bar flirting with her, which she's eating up. While he waits, he can't help but take in Dennis Reynolds. He doesn't want to approach him and annoy him, or, worse, have it end up being just a look-a-like, but, somehow, he knows this is the real Dennis Reynolds.

Being in the same place as him makes sense. Maybe because Mac's been having dreams about a life with him since he first started following his career, or maybe because he's always felt an unexplainable pull towards him, maybe it's because he's seen him in concert multiple times, or maybe, the simplest answer, it's because he purposely found a job in the same city Dennis Reynolds lives in so he had a chance at running into him. 

Dennis Reynolds is on his phone, typing, then suddenly he stops, looks ahead at the liquor behind the bar, then at his surroundings, and when his eyes start to make their way towards Mac, Mac rips his eyes away and starts to play with the top of his bottle. He's too scared to look back at Dennis Reynolds, not wanting to come off as creepy. 

After an appropriate amount of time, he looks back at Dennis Reynolds, only to find him staring directly at him. He looks away and shifts uncomfortably. He feels like he's going to get in trouble with some security team soon, or maybe Dennis Reynolds is going to confront him directly. Nothing of the sort happens. Dennis Reynolds leaves, and Mac is forced to believe that he's the cause of it.

Mac leaves shortly after.

He'll be back. So will Dennis Reynolds.

He starts to frequent the bar, sitting at the same barstool every time, ordering the same beer every time until the bartender learns his name and learns to put a beer for him at his seat the moment she sees him come into the bar. He stays for a few hours, and once it's clear Dennis Reynolds won't be coming in, he leaves. The routine last for weeks until one day Dennis Reynolds is back at the bar, sitting in the exact same spot. Mac's eyes fill with Dennis Reynolds. They sit closer to each other this time. He's just as gorgeous as Mac has always thought he would be. It looks like he's straight out of photoshop. Do they even photoshop his photoshoots? It wouldn't be surprising if they didn't. He looks perfect already.

Mac motions the bartender over. She leans in towards him and she smiles at him with straight teeth. "Yes?" she asks. 

"What does Dennis Reynolds normally drink?" 

She looks at him with some confusion and suddenly Mac doubts himself into thinking that this whole time it wasn't actually Dennis Reynolds at the bar, it was just some extreme look-a-like and his gut feeling has been wrong. 

"Oh, you mean Dennis! Sorry, not many people recognize him. He usually just drinks a few beers then leaves." 

There's relief, then some confusion. How could not many people recognize him? His face is everywhere. But on second look, he does look... normal. His hair isn't styled, his clothes are average looking, he isn't in here with any type of I-own-the-room confidence. He's just drinking a beer.

"Can you buy him a beer for me? On me." 

"You think he needs free beer?" she accuses with a lilt in her voice. He just raises an eyebrow at her, and she raises her hands up and turns around to grab the beer.

Mac watches her put the beer in front of Dennis Reynolds and he averts his eyes when she points at him. He looks down at the bar counter. There are scratch marks and stains all over it. This isn't a neccessarily classy bar. That could also be a reason no one recognizes Dennis Reynolds; no one expects him to be in a bar like this. 

Mac jumps when he feels someone tap his shoulder. He finds the source and suddenly forgets how to breathe. Dennis Reynolds is looking at him with deep blue eyes, a small smile on a sharp face, eyebrows positively turned up. His hair is curly and messy and a perfect shade of brown. He's holding up the beer with thin, long fingers. When he catches sight of Mac's face, however, his expression falls, and it makes Mac's heart jump. Did he do something wrong? Does Dennis Reynolds find him ugly? Something in his teeth? He reminds himself to breathe. It's a real blow if Dennis Reynolds finds him ugly, but at least he took a shot, and at least he can say he met him. 

Eventually, Dennis Reynolds's face morphs into a type of recognition, a familiarity with a hint of confusion, and he opens his mouth, and though he's not singing, Mac knows it's the rockstar just by how beautiful the voice that comes out is. 

"Do I-- Do I know you?" Dennis Reynolds asks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So anyway who else goes through on and off stages where you can write decently (on) and where you write mediocrely (off). Im off right now


	6. Clouds Rolling By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

Sun and warmth. The grass underneath him is pleasantly tickling his bare skin. He can feel his face start to tan. The clouds lazily roll across the sky, demonstrating much how Mac feels. 

"That one looks like a whale with bunny ears," Dennis says. Mac finds the cloud he's pointing towards. He's right. 

The sun comes out from behind a cloud and Mac has to shield his eyes. He doesn't mind. It gives him an excuse to look at Dennis instead.

Dennis looks peaceful. Lovely. Downright gorgeous. He doesn't notice Mac staring, but that makes it better. He's not trying to impress him when he doesn't know he has to. He's more himself than ever when he's unaware of the complete situation. 

He never looks more like Dennis than when he's relaxed. His chin is set high, his mouth is slightly open, his eyes are squinted, his hair is messy, his hands are limp on his chest. It's the man Mac loves, truly. 

But then Dennis notices and Mac's heartbeat speeds up. 

"Were you staring?" 

Mac hestitates, but he can't lie. "Yes." 

The smile that Dennis wears next is the brightest thing Mac has ever seen.


	7. Alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW (blowjob and handjob). No triggers.

The alleyway is utterly disgusting. There's garbage everywhere, it smells like piss, the dumpsters are overflowing and slimey. 

None of this seems to bug the man who is currently choking on Dennis's cock like there's no tomorrow. Maybe there won't be a tomorrow if the man keeps going like this. He's going to suck Dennis's soul right out of his cock. It doesn't seem like a horrible way to die; what a story to tell down in hell, huh?

"Died from too good of a blowjob." It has a ring to it. 

Dennis really is struggling to not cum down the man's throat right away. He wants to, but the blowjob is so good that he doesn't want it to end. The man currently has him all the way down to the base and he's sucking in his cheeks as if breathing and swallowing aren't things he needs to do. When he pulls off so he can catch his breath, he flattens his tongue on the underside of Dennis's cock and lets it trail as his mouth slowly leaves his cock exposed to the air. 

All Dennis can do as that happens is grasp for purchase on the brick wall behind him harder and whisper obscenities. His nails have broken by now and he's definitely bit his tongue more than once.

The man dives back in, swirling his tongue around the head then bobbing up and down with circular motions. He has his hand at the base of Dennis's cock, squeezing hard and it's taking absolutely everything in Dennis's power to not wrap his hands in the man's brown hair and hold him still as he fucks his mouth. 

With the way this night has already gone, the man might not even mind. He was way too willing to drop to his knees for Dennis in the first place. 

The man bottoms out again. One of his hands find Dennis's balls and he starts to play with them, his other hand wrapping itself around Dennis's thigh and squeezing. 

Dennis barely feels like he can breathe. He can't keep his orgasm at bay much longer and something he does lets the man know this, because the man pulls off and looks directly into Dennis's eyes when he says, "You can cum down my throat." Then he takes Dennis back down and now both his hands are squeezing Dennis's hipbones and it's so much that Dennis is spilling, his cock twitching in the man's mouth as it releases all it can. When Dennis is done, the man pulls off and starts to cough, but he calms down quckly and swallows all that he can. 

Dennis thinks he's in love. He's never been in love before, but he's also never gotten such an amazing blowjob before. 

He shows the man his affection by pulling him up by his bicep and smashing their mouths together, licking into the man and tasting himself the best that he can. The man moans and his knees are weak and Dennis has to wrap his arms around the man's back to prevent him from falling.

His erection is against Dennis's thigh. He's moving his hips in order to get friction, but since Dennis's softening cock is still out, the man's pants are rubbing against it and frankly hurting it. Dennis finds the solution by making sure the man can support himself again and then undoing his pants, shoving them down, and pulling his cock out of his underwear. 

The man gasps and wraps his arms around Dennis's neck so he doesn't fall. Dennis doesn't mind. He keeps kissing him as he jerks him off, not even trying to make more of a show of it than the man did while sucking his cock because that just seems impossible. 

The man stops kissing him and tucks his head into Dennis's neck. He breathes heavily and wetly onto the sensitive flesh, making Dennis's skin break out in goosebumps and his cock give an interested twitch, but then the man is cumming with a quiet shout, all over Dennis's hand and his pants. 

"Sorry," he whispers once he's done. 

"It's okay. I can get these dry cleaned." 

But he also wears pants he's okay with staining when he goes out. Just in case. 

"Let me pay," the man says. 

"That was the best blowjob I've ever gotten. You're not paying for shit." 

The man smiles against Dennis's neck, then finally he seems to realize that both of them are exposed and disheveled in a very public alleyway. He tucks Dennis back into his pants before he hikes his pants back up to his hips. 

Something about the amazing sex and the care that Dennis witnesses as the man puts him away before himself makes him blurt out, "Let me take you to dinner." 

The man has big brown eyes. Puppy dog eyes. He bites his lip for a second before smiling. 

"Okay, yeah. Take me to dinner." 

"My name is Dennis, by the way," Dennis says.

"Mac." 

The name seems familiar.


	8. Garden of Eden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

He was told not to go near the tree  
With the red apples  
But he was also told he has free will  
The decision made to be his own  
The snake  
On the tree  
Has blue eyes  
And a slimy forked tongue  
Stuck into Mac's ear  
Whispering words he doesn't know how to respond to  
So he ignores them  
And walks away from the tree  
But as each day passes  
The apples from the tree  
Look more and more tempting  
The words feel more and more promising  
And the snake makes its way deeper  
Into Mac  
With a smile  
If Mac and the woman with him are to have free will  
Why must their true freedom  
Be hidden behind an apple?  
The woman tells him he is not to be trusted with the snake  
The woman tells him he is forbidden from the tree  
Mac is not good at listening to instructions  
One day  
As he escapes the women's clutch  
As the all knowing eyes of God watch him  
He goes to the tree  
And a man who looks like him sits   
On a branch  
He looks at Mac with mischevious blue eyes  
A forked tongue slips from his mouth  
"I am Dennis.   
The snake from the tree you are forbidden from.  
You do not follow rules very well."   
Dennis has juices  
Flowing down his chin  
Juices from the apple  
Flowing down his chin  
He spits out chunks of apple  
As he talks  
And Mac is hypnotized  
He wants to know how it tastes  
For Dennis to want him to try it so desperately  
It must taste like nothing else in the garden  
Sweeter, saltier, tangier  
Different  
Dennis smiles  
Lips pulling taught  
Beautiful lips pulling taught  
The sun hits his wavy hair just right  
It almost looks golden  
Though he supposes it's not  
But those eyes  
Those blue eyes  
Mac wants the apple off the forked tongue  
Dennis can tell  
"Come get a taste,  
Baby boy."   
He does  
And the world falls apart around him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I havent finished a poem in like a yr but this really seemed like a poem idea
> 
> Also am i saying that dennis and mac have known each other since the literal beginning? Mayhaps


	9. Zookeeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

"Are you the lion's caretaker?" 

Mac turns. A man is staring at him expectantly and Mac puts on his customer service smile. He doesn't sell anything, but he still has to make sure to treat the visitors to the zoo right. It gets annoying, sometimes. Okay, most of the time. Luckily, he's usually back with the animals.

"Yes, sir. One of them," he responds. 

The man looks thoughtful and he nods. "Are you the one that does the live feeding?" 

"I am." 

"I like that." He's wearing a smirk that shows off half his teeth, his blue eyes holding an excited spark in them.

Mac doesn't really know what he means by that, but he can excuse it. He's good eye candy. 

"Do you want to get coffee sometime? Maybe teach me about the lions?" the man asks.

Mac should deny the offer. _Should_ being the key word. But, for some reason, he knows if he doesn't take up on the offer, he'll regret it for the rest of his life. So with a smile, he responds,

"My break is in an hour. The café by the otters serves coffee and I'm allowed to skip the line. Meet me then?" 

"It's a date," the man says, then turns on his heel and walks away, disappearing as quickly as he had showed up.

Mac can't help but stare until he's completely out of eyeline.


	10. Thievery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: ill update everyday  
> Me two weeks later: fuck
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

Lips curl back into a smile. A hand is shoved out from beneath long clothes, palm outstretched and inviting. Dennis looks at him with apprehension, and the lips move further back to reveal sharp teeth. Odd. Eventually, Dennis takes his palm in a handshake, short but firm. 

"May I have your name?" the stranger asks. 

"Dennis," No One says. 

Blue eyes brighten, become unreadable. 

"What a name!" he says. "Thank you."

"For what?" 

"The name, of course! It's a shame you'll have to pick a new one. I hope you weren't too attached." Fake sympathy dripping out between the gaps in his teeth. No One can almost see it. 

"What do you mean? My name is still--" He starts to cough, dry and painful. Dennis stares at him blankly, no care to help. 

No One takes a few deep breaths, desperate to calm down.

"What _are_ you?" he asks, his throat cracking and creaking. 

"The thing you're now stuck with," Dennis replies and his voice is deep and bloody and tough. Absolute. 

No One has no idea what he's just done, but he knows he has every right to be filled with the dread coursing through his veins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case no one understands, mac is born with the name dennis. dennis is a fae who steals/is given mac's name (which is dennis)


	11. Finally // beautiful stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> manic is my all time favorite album and i lost track of how many times i listened to it two weeks after its release 
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

His phone is ringing and when he picks it up, the voice that comes through is smooth. 

"Can I come over?" it asks. 

"My roommates are home-- but, yeah. They-- they'll leave us alone." 

"Perfect."

He comes over. Casual clothes. Mac is in sweatpants himself. He doesn't expect anything. He pops open a bottle of wine and he crawls into Dennis's arms as they drink the entire bottle. It's natural. Relaxing. 

So they end up dancing in the living room, soft music playing from Mac's phone in a cup. Mac has his head tucked into Dennis's neck and shoulder and every few moments Dennis is kissing the side of his head, delicate and slow. 

Mac can feel himself falling. 

It's a bad idea. Dennis is practically a stranger. 

But no stranger has ever felt this way. No stranger has ever slow danced with him in his living room, no stranger has ever had arms that fit him perfectly. No stranger has ever been so beautiful. 

He falls further. Dennis catches him. Kisses him. Lips on lips. He tastes sweet. Like home. Mac is in trouble. His fists come up, but do nothing as Dennis takes them and gently puts them back down. Eyes meet eyes. Mac bites his lip. Dennis smiles.

"You're okay," Dennis whispers. 

"I know." Soft. Weak. Falling. Catching. Dennis is here. Beautiful stranger. Safety. "I'm used to..." he stops. 

"I know," Dennis says. "Let's go to bed."

"Okay." 

Beautiful stranger. He's sleeping in Mac's bed. No sex. Mac is okay with that. 

He's known Dennis for a week, but it feels like his entire life. Maybe it's the wine talking, his head still slow and foggy, but wine's never made him feel this way before. 

He falls asleep before he can think anymore. His dreams are full of Dennis and he's left aching when he wakes up. His arms reach out and he gets an armful of Dennis. It's sating. Dennis makes a noise and burrows into Mac and it's warm and pleasant and Mac falls asleep again. 

The way Dennis is looking at him when he wakes up again is enough to convince him to fall completely. He feels Dennis's arms wrap tighter around him. 

A week ago, love was elusive. A painful chase. Unfortunate. 

But that was a week ago. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever think about how soft they could be if they were raised right? They cant be completely awful in every lifetime, right?


	12. Stella Rosa Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

They clink their glasses together, the sound echoeing throughout the bare bathroom. 

"To finally moving into a house together," Dennis says. Mac smiles at him, and together, they drink down half of the wine in their glasses. 

"I'm glad we picked the one with the bathtub big enough for both of us," Mac says.

Dennis smiles as warmly as the water they sit in. "Yeah, I agree," he says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im spilling wine in the bathtub! You kiss my face and we're both drunk! Everyone thinks that they know us but they know nothing about us! 
> 
> I can go on from memory but i wont


	13. The Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

He met a boy in kindergarten and he knew the boy until middle school. The boy left to go to a private school and Mac thought nothing of it. The boy only bullied him, really. Pushed him down on the playground and got away with it because the teachers thought he was only playing. They never heard what the boy would whisper to him as he lay on the woodchips. 

But Mac doesn't remember anything he said. 

The boy had brown hair and an intimidating smile, Mac does remember.

The boy's name started with a D, Mac remembers. 

The boy was taller than him, Mac remembers. 

The boy is now a man, Mac realizes. 

The man in front of him has an intimidating smile and brown hair, Mac realizes.

The man is taller than him, Mac realizes.

Something pushes against his chest. 

"What's your name?" Mac blurts out. The man starts, not expecting to be talked to by the person in line behind him at the grocery store.

"Excuse me?" the man asks. 

"Sorry, I--" Mac rubs the back of his neck, refusing to meet eye contact with the man. "I recognize you. Did we go to school together?" 

The man looks him up and down. "I went to private school," he says. Mac takes offense, but he keeps pushing.

"I know. Before then, though. Do you remember me?" 

The man stares, until finally there's controlled recognition. "Ronnie!" he exclaims.

Mac winces. He hasn't been called Ronnie in years. "It's Mac now." 

"Holy shit, you've certainly grown up, huh?"

"I can say the same for you." 

"S'pose you can. But you-- you look great, Ronnie." 

Mac falls into the compliment quickly and heavily. He shouldn't, he really shouldn't, especially not know that he remembers more and more of what was done to him as a boy. Purposely destroying his projects, refusing to let him sit next to him on the bus and being forced to sit next to the smelly kid, constantly having his homework cheated off from without his permission and it causing both of them to get in trouble. 

The line moves up. 

"You look good too, Dennis." The name comes out before Mac can fully remember if that's it or not and he's filled with a quick panic that it's not the right name.

"Thanks. What are you doing afterwards?" 

There's relief first because he doesn't mention Mac getting the wrong name, then anxiety because does he have anything to do afterwards? No, he doesn't. 

There's that intimidating smile. To top it all off, Dennis pushes his hair out of his eyes. 

"Yeah-- no, I'm doing nothing afterwards." 

"Great! Want to get dinner?" 

Mac has frozen food, but he agrees nonetheless. 


	14. "Give or take?" "Take"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. Triggers: murder.

Dennis puts the gun down on the table. Mac eyes it. "You done with your freak out?" Mac says, his voice blank. 

Dennis kicks the body away from him. He looks at his shoes with disgust. "I got blood on them," he says, his top lip pulled up.

"What did you think would happen?" 

"I just bought these shoes." 

"Buy some more." 

"Fine." He's irritated now, but Mac still looks at him with no emotion. He doesn't care anymore. Not about the freakouts or the murders, the risk of being caught. It was awful at first, watching Dennis kill someone with no thought to it, but then it became normal, until suddenly it felt like nothing. An universal truth-- his husband would murder someone, then they'd clean it up and dispose of the body together.

It's not that Mac enjoys any of the process, but he loves Dennis too much to let him go. So he keeps going. _It_ keeps going. 

And at night, after they're done cleaning everything, Mac dreams he married a normal man, and, sometimes, he's positive the dreams are real. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *writing abt muder at 2am*  
> The kitten cuddled under my chin: *starts purring*   
> 🥺


	15. Knowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If youve given me a prompt and i havent written it, or i write someone else's first, its nothing personal! I write all my ideas down in a list and pick the one i feel like writing the most 
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

"Why do I know you?" Mac whispers through the darkness of the room. 

"I don't know," Dennis responds. 

"Do you know me?" 

"Yes." 

Mac goes silent. 

Shadows morph through the limited light. They lay next to each other in the bed. 

Mac should leave, should grab his clothes from the floor, put them on, go through the door, and forget about everything that happened. 

But he doesn't. 

Why does he know Dennis? Have they had a one night stand before this and forgotten? Do they have a mutual friend? Have they talked to each other at a party? Did they go to the same school?

None of those seem right. 

None of those _are_ right. 

Mac just doesn't know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know i should have like 23 posted but i dont cause im a loser!


	16. Trampoline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.

"I just moved in," Dennis says. 

The boy with the brown eyes looks back at him, full of curiousity. "Hi, I'm Mac." 

"I'm Dennis. Can I come use your trampoline?" 

Mac thinks about it, then says an enthuastic yes. He only has Charlie, he could use another friend. 

"Great! I'll be over in a sec!" He climbs down from his fence, landing on the grass underneath him hard, then he takes off running towards the gate. Dee tries to stop him on his way, asking where he's going, but he tells her she's not invited, then ignores her protests and slams the gate. He knows she'll weasel in eventually, but the longer he can keep her away the better. 

He can't open his neighbor's gate from the outside so he has to knock on it and he hears the trampoline creak as Mac jumps off it and runs to the gate. It opens up after Mac tugs on it hard, the planks scraping across the ground. 

Dennis smiles at Mac and Mac smiles back. 

By the end of the day, they're best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a true story! When i first moved i met some of my friends by climbing my fence and asking to use their trampoline


	17. Pool Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from Daisy: 80s AU where Dennis is a high power businessman and in a loveless marriage with his perfect wife Mandy, they live in a perfect mansion with their perfect children until Dennis gets feelings for their white trash pool cleaner with the beautiful brown eyes and bird that won’t quit.
> 
> NSFw (blowjob and jerking off). Triggers: cheating.

"What're the names of your family?" Frank points to the framed photo on his desk. Dennis thinks he should know by now considering they've been working together for a few years, but he digresses. Frank's the type of dude to be petty enough to demote or fire Dennis for pointing that out.

"Wife is Mandy and the two children are Brian and Samantha." 

"Gorgeous family, huh?" 

"Oh, yeah. I'm verry happy. Now, about the presentation tomorrow..."

***

It's a fucking lie. He's not happy, he hasn't been happy since Mandy first got pregnant and all emotional and needy and suddenly he was expected to be a good husband and a good dad. Then Mandy got pregnant again and she was beyond excited but Dennis only became unhappier having to take care of a toddler and a pregnant wife, then a toddler and a baby, then he got his promotion and Dennis had them moved into a mansion just because they had the money to and it was easier to avoid his family in a bigger space. 

While all this happened, it was obvious that Mandy stopped loving him as much as he stopped loving her. She stopped trying to have sex, stopped trying to cuddle, stopped trying to talk about her day and his day. There's a gap in the middle of their bed now, one that's cold and unwrinkled. 

Now, he stays at work for as long as possible, working overtime each and every week, happiest when he comes home after dinner and the kids are already in bed. He'll sit on the couch and drink beer until he knows Mandy is in their bed asleep, then he'll go to bed. Sometimes Mandy will join him on the couch and give him updates about the house, but usually he ignores her until she goes away. 

Tonight is one of those nights. She plops down on the opposite side of the couch from him, her own beer in hand. He half-assedly greets her, then they're silent for a long moment, staring at the TV, neither really watching it. 

Eventually, Mandy pipes up. "I hired a new pool cleaner. He's coming on Saturday, but I'm going to be gone. Can you show him where the pool is?" 

Dennis grunts an agreement. "What time?" 

"Around nine, I think." 

"Okay."

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go to bed, then. Goodnight, Dennis." She doesn't try to kiss him as she leaves. She stopped doing that long ago.

***

Saturday comes. Mandy wakes him up around eight, before she leaves, and reminds him to greet the pool cleaner. He doesn't make any type of vocal response, but he also doesn't go back to sleep. He gets up, takes a shower, gets dressed, then goes to the kitchen, only to find Samantha with her nanny. She yells out to him excitedly and runs towards him, being swooped into his arms with a hug. 

He loves his children. He truly does. But they don't make him happy and they're exhausting and if there's one thing he's learned in his life it's that love can only go so far. 

Still, he ends up spending time with Samantha until he hears a knock on the front door and sends her back with her nanny. She protests, saying she wants to stay with him, but he doesn't let her. Claims he has work to do, but, really, if he wanted to stay with her, he'd be able to.

He answers the door at the third time the bell is rung. He means to tell the pool boy off for being impatient, but his voice gets caught in his throat the moment he sees him. 

The pool boy is, surprisely, very attractive. He's built well, he has soft eyes, a strong chin, floppy hair. He isn't covered in dirt either, like Dennis subconsciously expected him to be. No, he's actually quite clean and well groomed. Even his beard is trimmed exactly to fit his face shape.

"Sir?" Pool Boy says, concern on his face, and Dennis realizes Pool Boy's been talking the entire time he's been checking him out. 

"Oh, yeah-- the pool," he snaps out of it. "Follow me." 

***

Dennis watches Pool Boy work. It's easy to do, after all. He sits out on the porch, lets the sun tan his skin, gets up and grabs a beer occasionally, and he watches as Pool Boy, well, cleans the pool. 

It's a hard job. Mandy had fired their last pool cleaner back in the fall and hadn't bothered to get a new one until now that it's almost summer, so the pool never got any of the winter chemicals in it and was never drained of some of its water. It just sat, growing algea, for almost three whole seasons. Really, it needs to be entirely drained and scrubbed, but that's for Pool Boy to figure out and do, not Dennis.

Right now he seems to be waiting as the pool drains water, looking at all his chemicals in the meantime and comparing them. 

Dennis finishes his third beer of the morning, afternoon, whatever. When he gets up to get another one, he figures he might as well offer Pool Boy some water or a beer or something. He calls out to him and Pool Boy nearly jumps out of his skin, running his head in circles before he finds the source of the sound. 

"Do you want anything to drink?" Dennis asks. 

Pool Boy seems hestitant to answer at first, then he seems to get over his nerves. "Can I have some water, Mr. Reynolds?" he requests. 

"Please, call me Dennis." 

Dennis can just barely see Pool Boy nod his head. 

***

"Thank you, Mr. Dennis." He takes the bottle from him and drinks it down halfway, obviously a lot thirstier than he was willing to let on. 

Dennis wants to tell him that just Dennis is fine, but he doesn’t. It suddenly doesn’t seem worth it, not when Mr. Dennis makes his stomach do a flip like he’s a school girl.

Dennis doesn’t leave when he should, which happens to be right after he gives Pool Boy the water. No, he sticks around, and he makes it awkward, and then he makes it even more awkward when he clears his throat, utters a goodbye to Pool Boy, then turns on his heel and leaves.

***

He wasn’t awkward around Mandy. He wooed her like he wooed any other female, the only difference being that this time he was out of college and had the expectation of marriage and children placed on him, especially by his mother, who saw it as a fact of life that Dennis would grow up and give her grandchildren. Dennis knew she never actually cared much for grandchildren, she just cared about what grandchildren meant for her in society. That she’s not behind all her other rich friends, that she’s worthy of grandchildren, whatever.

She died before she could meet Brian. She never even saw Mandy get pregnant. Not that Dennis cared, really, but it did kind of ruin the whole experience of giving his mom grandchildren.

And it made him realize that he’s not sure if he ever actually loved Mandy in the first place. He loved the idea of having a wife, of having children, of giving his mom grandchildren, of having children before his sister, and he tricked himself into believing he loved Mandy, and he tricked himself into believing he was happy to marry her, and he tricked himself into believing he was happy when Brian was born, when Samantha was born. He tricked himself into loving Mandy, really, loving her until the well went dry and he _couldn’t_ love her anymore, for one reason or another.

He thinks she loved him. He did woo her, after all. He got her to say yes. He got her to get pregnant twice. He knows she doesn’t love him anymore, though. It’s obvious with everything they do. He’s surprised she hasn’t moved to one of the vacant guest rooms in the house, or made him move.

He doesn’t know where their relationship is heading. A divorce, most likely, one as messy as his parent’s divorce, one that’s going to traumatize his children like his parent’s divorce traumatized him and his sister, but he can’t bring himself to care. The moment he cares, the moment it will seem real. The moment he cares, the moment he knows he fucked up his life by getting down one on knee and smiling when she said yes.

***

It’s really easy to watch Pool Boy, Dennis learns. Pool Boy is here every weekend and only the weekends because apparently he has some other job over the week, which Dennis is fine with, because he’s only home during the weekends anyway.

Pool Boy knows that Dennis is watching him because Dennis brings him a new bottle of water every time he finishes one. He doesn’t mention it, only thanks him, makes small talk, then goes back to his work and Dennis goes back to the deck. The pattern repeats until Pool Boy finishes for the day. It goes on for weeks.

To Dennis’s dismay, the pool is getting cleaner and cleaner with each passing weekend. Of course, the pool always needs new chemicals and always needs to be vacuumed, so Pool Boy’s job is never actually over, but, once the pool is clean, there’s no reason for him to spend the whole day at the house. He’ll only have to come over every Saturday, check the chemical levels, do what needs to be done, then leave.

So as the weekends dwindle, Dennis starts to slip Pool Boy tips along with the water bottles, which Pool Boy takes without a word. Dennis sees it as an incentive for Pool Boy not to forget about him, but Pool Boy does what Dennis doesn’t expect.

Pool Boy starts to tease him.

The teasing starts miniscule. The shirt he wears is tighter, subtly showing off his muscles, and he isn’t as adamant on pulling up his shorts when they ride down his hips, and he doesn’t care much about getting wet.

It’s killing Dennis. Pool Boy was attractive dressed decently, let alone this. He doesn’t know how much more he can take before he pounces.

***

Pool Boy takes off his shirt today, which is enough to send Dennis feral, but then he makes eye contact with him, and he fucking winks. No shame to it, just a clear as day wink.

Then he goes back to working as if he did nothing.

Dennis tries to make himself believe that he didn’t actually see the wink, but he can’t. He knows what he saw. He knows that he’s being flirted with like there’s no tomorrow, like he’s not married.

At the end of the day, when he goes to ask Pool Boy how much longer it’ll be before the pool is ready, he slips a hundred-dollar bill in his hand.

***

Mandy knows he spends the weekends outside. She can tell when the freckles on his shoulders come out, he can tell when his skin becomes three shades darker. She can tell when she doesn’t find him on a couch in a room hidden from the children, TV on, beer in his head, eyes glazed over.

When she finds where he’s been hanging out outside, just on the deck, no less, she knows what he’s doing. She finds the Pool Boy attractive herself.

She didn’t know her husband swung that way, though.

She’s hurt, of course, her husband is staring at a man behind her back, but what is she going to do about it? Throw a fit, get the children involved, go stay with her mother? She knows what she got into a year after marrying Dennis. She figured out quickly that she would never be treated right while she was with him. She did nothing about it then and she does nothing about it now.

She lets him have his weekends with the pool boy.

***

Pool Boy is fucking killing him.

He’s stayed faithful in his marriage, but he can’t anymore. Not with how Pool Boy looks at him when Dennis hands over the water, sultry eyes, sweat shining on his forehead, dry kissable lips. Not with how Pool Boy never wears a shirt anymore, not with how he seems to have forgotten his underwear, not with how he has a package that he doesn’t mind Dennis looking at.

Dennis can see it because he’s moved much closer to the pool than the deck. He’s still not at the pool, per se, but he’s only a few feet from it. He brought out a chair and set it up on the grass and he leaves it out, told the gardeners to not touch it, so it’s always there, ready for him.

The sun is hot today so Pool Boy is going through more water than he normally does, but that’s okay because Dennis has long since kept a cooler filled with beer and water by his feet.

The next time Dennis gives Pool Boy a bottle of water, his hand lingers. It’s hot against Dennis’s hand and the condensated bottle. Their eyes meet. The sexual tension builds up farther than it’s ever been so far, and Dennis panics. He clutches down on the bottle, feeling all the air push at the lid, threatening to make it pop off.

“Mr. Dennis,” Pool Boy mumbles.

“Yes?” Dennis responds. His grip on the bottle doesn’t loosen.

“Can you let go of the bottle?”

Dennis snaps out of it. His hand falls by his side and dangles uselessly and suddenly he’s more embarrassed than he should be. He can feel his cheeks start to warm up and he hopes that Pool Boy will just think that the heat is getting to him.

Pool Boy smiles, drinks some of the water, then places it on the ground by his feet. He turns around and gestures at the pool.

“It’s gotten pretty clean, huh, Mr. Dennis?”

“Yeah,” Dennis responds numbly, because he’s not looking at the pool. He’s looking at the way Pool Boy’s muscles twitch and move as he moves his arm and shoulder, how sweat makes the tan skin shine.

Dennis has always liked how smooth a woman’s back is, has never paid much attention to what the muscles look like when they’re defined, but as he looks at Pool Boy, he can’t even picture what a woman’s back looks like. Sure, he likes Mandy's back, wouldn't have married her if there was something he didn't like about her body, but him liking Pool Boy's back feels difference. It feels much more natural to like his back, like he isn't trying to foce himself to like something he simply can't. 

He shakes those thoughts away. Too heavy. 

"It should be done in another week or two." 

Dennis's heart speeds up. "No!" he yells out before he can stop himself. Pool Boy turns and looks at him with wide eyes and Dennis has to restrain himself from fidgeting. "Sorry, I meant-- it doesn't look too clean does it?" 

Pool Boy gives it a once over, then looks at Dennis like he's crazy. 

"I've scrubbed the whole thing, Mr. Dennis. It's almost sparkling." 

Yeah, it is. Dennis clears his throat. 

He doesn't know what's happening. He's always been smooth and relaxed around anyone he's ever wanted to sleep with. He was even smooth and relaxed when he proposed to Mandy. How he's acting now is unlike him and, frankly, upsetting. 

"I guess," he hesitates. "I guess, just, go home early. Take the rest of the day off." 

Pool Boy has concern written over his face. His cheeks are pink and it must be because of the heat, not because Dennis is doing a good job flirting. 

"Really, Mr. Dennis?" 

"Really." 

Pool Boy has good teeth, Dennis notices.

***

He doesn't know what's wrong with him. After sending Pool Boy home, he took a hot shower and he changed into clean clothes and he most certaintly avoided thinking about shirtless Pool Boy.

Now he sits on his couch and he waits for whoever-the-fuck cooks dinner for him and his fanily to come tell him that there's food, only for him to respond that he doesn't want to eat, partly because he doesn't like eating and partly because he doesn't want to see his family. 

If he could, he'd walk out of this life right now and carve a new one with Pool Boy. 

But he can't.

He shouldn't be so nervous around him. He shouldn't shake and hesitate and stutter. Really, he's Pool Boy's superior. So what if he's attractive? So what if he allows Dennis to escape this life he hates? So what if Dennis wants to wrap his arms around his waist and feel his floppy brown hair at his neck as his lips travel down? So what about any of it? 

It all feels different. Less out of Dennis's control than ever. 

***

Mac knows that what he's doing is wrong. He knows he shouldn't be flirting with a married man. But he also knows he can't stop. 

It's easy. Mr. Dennis eats it up and purposely eggs him on, whether he knows he does it or not. Although, he definitely knew what he was doing when he started slipping Mac money. 

Mac felt dirty once that started. He told himself he'd stop his flirting. That went to shit the moment he saw Mr. Dennis the next day. Mr. Dennis wasn't wearing one of his long-sleeved button ups and jeans, no, he was wearing a loose fitting T-shirt and basketball shorts. It made sense considering it had gone up fifteen degrees over night, but still unexpected. Even more unexpected was Dennis's unstyled curls. Up until that point he had slicked back his hair, but along with his more relaxed outfit, his hair was also relaxed. He looked even more gorgeous like that. 

So without much thought, Mac started to tease him. And he had fun doing it. He liked seeing how Mr. Dennis had to tear his eyes away everytime Mac looked at him. He liked the lingering hand touches and the subconscious lick lipping. 

It made him feel good, no matter how bad he'd feel the moment his eye caught the sun's reflection off Mr. Dennis's wedding ring. No matter how many times he got home and went through the week and told himself like a mantra that he wouldn't flirt anymore, he still did it. 

And it became worse. His ability to not flirt, that is. 

The first time he took off his shirt, he cursed himself for it. 

And then he winked at Mr. Dennis and somehow it was worse and better all at once. He felt justified for taking off his shirt when he saw the blush spread across Mr. Dennis's cheeks, when he averted his eyes. He probably doesn't think Mac saw it, but he saw Mr. Dennis adjust his pants. 

At the end of the day, Mr. Dennis gives him a hundred dollars. He keeps it because it helps him pay the bills, but he doesn't feel good about it. 

Most of the time, he confesses his sins. He goes to the church and he kneels in the pews until his knees hurt and he keeps his hands clasped together until they're sore and he repeats his sins until they don't feel real. 

But the cycle repeats. 

***

He doesn't let go of the water bottle. He can't. At this point, it'd seem like a crime to do so. Pool Boy looks at him with wide, blown eyes. Their fingers are touching and while Dennis's are soft, Pool Boy's are rough and calloused. 

"I..." Dennis starts, then stops. He licks his lips and Pool Boy watches him as he does it. 

"Yeah," Pool Boy says. 

Dennis hates that he's hard. He has no reason to be hard. He's been touching Pool Boy's hand for weeks now, so what's so different about this moment? 

Everything is different about this moment. 

Dennis leans in. Pool Boy lets him. Their eyes meet, then their lips. It's sudden, but not surprising. He knew it was coming when he first looked at Pool Boy. He knew their relationship would build until it couldn’t anymore and then it’d snap and they’d be doing things that they shouldn’t be doing.

Dennis lets the water bottle fall to the ground and he wraps his arms around Pool Boy’s waist and pulls him closer. Pool Boy lets out a moan of surprise, but he falls into the gesture easily. Dennis knows he can feel his hard on through his shorts, but he doesn’t care. Let Pool Boy know how he feels. Besides, Pool Boy doesn’t pull back. In fact, he deepens the kiss, apparentally just as excited as Dennis is to do... whatever it is their doing. 

They're gonna have sex, Dennis decides. 

He breaks the kiss and tugs on Pool Boy's wrist. "Follow me," he says, and Pool Boy does. 

They end up in one of the rooms in the guest house. Dennis is pretty sure he's never even been to this part of the house, but Mandy had made sure all the bedrooms had beds when they bought the house. He thinks she hired some furnishing company, but he doesn't remember. 

Once they enter the room, Pool Boy hestitates in the door. He looks nervous, he twiddles his thumbs and bites his lip. 

Honestly, he looks adorable.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Mr. Dennis? You're married." His eyes flick to Dennis's wedding band, and suddenly the ring is burning his skin. He twists the ring off and throws it across the room to who-knows-where.

"Yes. I want to do this." His lips meet Pool Boy's again, slow and soft and chaste. Pool Boy returns the kiss. He lets go and rests his forehead on Pool Boy's. "I haven't loved Man--"

"I don't want to know her name," Pool Boy interrupts. 

"Okay. I haven't loved her in years. I'm making this decision, not you. Don't worry," Dennis says, softly. Pool Boy relaxes and initiates the next kiss. All doubts seem to leave his mind after Dennis's words and he pushes Dennis towards the bed, taking small steps until the back of Dennis's knees hit the edge of the bed. He folds down on the bed and Mac climbs on top of him, kissing all the while. 

Dennis breaks apart to take off his shirt and scoot to the head board. He beckons Pool Boy back over to him with a hand gesture and Pool Boy happily scrambles back to lavish his body. Dennis thinks he's going to come back to his lips, but, no, he goes to his neck and starts kissing and sucking on it, sending shivers down Dennis's body. He can't remember the last time he had sex, and he's not sure it's ever felt this electrifying before. 

He lets Pool Boy stay at his neck for a few seconds, but he doesn't want any marks, so he gently pushes his head away and he captures his lips once Pool Boy looks at him to see what's wrong. 

"No marks," he whispers against Pool Boy's lips. 

"Okay," he responds. 

Dennis delicately kisses the side of Pool Boy's mouth and absolutely melts when he feels Pool Boy let out a small puff of air, a quiet whine buried underneath. 

"How do you want to do this, baby boy?" 

"Maybe I could suck you off?" 

Dennis smiles, puts his hands on Pool Boy's back, lets him feel the smooth skin. "Of course," he says. 

He lets his hand float above his back as Pool Boy lowers himself down to Dennis's crotch, taking breaks as he goes down to pay attention to Dennis's bare chest. He's careful to leave no marks, but the butterfly kisses are still enough to send Dennis's stomach flipping. 

Pool Boy mouths over his hard cock, still in the basketball shorts. The only saving grace is he's not wearing any underwear, but, still, he's desperate to get the show on the road. His hips buck up a few inches and it makes Pool Boy dig his fingers into the curve of Dennis's hips to help keep him still.

"C'mon, Mac," Dennis whines. The name slips out. He doesn't know where it comes from, or if it's right, but, at the name, Pool Boy pulls down Dennis's basketball shorts until they're resting just under his cock, letting it spring out. 

Dennis decides Mac is the right name. He must have read it on some name tag or something. 

He ignores the fact that he knows Mac never wore a name tag. 

Mac takes Dennis's cock in his hand and he keeps it in his fist as he takes his balls in his mouth. His other hand is back on Dennis's hip and his fingertips are digging into the thin flesh there, and it starts to hurt, but Dennis doesn't care. He had forgotten how good it feels to have a mouth on him, hot and wet and enthusiastic. 

It takes everything in him to not choke Mac with his cock. Absolutely everything. 

Soon enough, Mac takes his hand away from his shaft and begins to dig into his other hip just as hard, but Dennis still doesn't care because now Mac's mouth is on the tip of his cock. He kisses down it, starting on the head and going down until he reaches the base. Slowly, way too slowly, he starts to put the entire thing in his mouth. 

When he gets halfway down, Dennis groans out his name and he wraps his hands in Mac's greasy hair and he tugs. He's hestitant at first, but Mac doesn't pull off and tell him to stop, so he takes it as a good sign. He helps ease Mac the rest of the way down until he's deepthroating him and Mac _must_ have had practice before because he's doing it so _smoothly_. 

A flair of jealousy shoots through him as he thinks about all the other men Mac's been with. He pushes Mac down farther until he's almost choking, until Dennis can feel the back of his throat flexing against him, and he's not sure he's ever felt anything more satisfying. He holds him there for a moment, but then Mac's grip on his hips tightens and he lets him go. Mac pulls off and starts to cough while taking deep breaths. There are tears in his eyes. 

Dennis expects to be yelled at, but it doesn't come. Mac calms down and is right back on him and Dennis absolutely groans. 

Mac's tongue can work wonders, Dennis learns. He doesn't need to be deepthroated to feel this good. All he needs is Mac's tongue. 

It isn't long before his hips are twitching and his stomach is burning and he's uttering a warning to Mac before Mac pulls off and lets Dennis cum over his face. Even as Dennis is finishing, Mac is licking his cock through the twitches, not caring where the cum is landing. 

When Dennis is coherent enough after his orgasm, he is pulling Mac's face to his own and he's kissing him as hard as he possibly can, teeth clacking together and his own cum spreading from Mac's face to his as well. He doesn't care. All he cares about is Mac tastes like him and he tastes amazing, especially off of Mac's lips. 

"How do you want to finish, baby boy?" he whispers against Mac's cheek, then licks a bit of the cum off there. He feels Mac shiver. 

"Just touch me, Mr. Dennis." 

Mac calling him Mr. Dennis while still covered in his release sends his stomach rolling. 

Mac has been rolling his hips across Dennis's thigh this whole time, desperately searching for friction, but Dennis calmly tells him to stop and rubs his back in comfort. Mac whimpers, but does as he's told. 

"So good for me," Dennis mumbles. 

"Good for you," Mac repeats. 

Dennis grips Mac's ass cheeks through his pants, then he brings his hands back up and gently pulls his pants down past his ass. He doesn't care to take them fully off in the same way Mac didn't care to get his off. 

Besides, he was right about Mac not wearing underwear. It makes it all easier. 

He's quick to get Mac's cock in his hand, doesn't daddle before he's rubbing his hot palm in circles over the head. Mac is much noisier than he was and much more desperate, apparentally getting off just by pleasuring Dennis. 

That's hot. 

It doesn't take much finesse to get Mac to finish all over Dennis's stomach. His body jerks and he moans and he holds himself up with shaky muscles. 

When he's done, he collapses, his head on Dennis's chest. He's breathing heavily, but so is Dennis. The air is hot and reeks of sex. They're both covered in sweat. 

Dennis cards his hands back into Mac's hair and he starts to play with it. Mac relaxes into the touch, letting a sigh come out. 

They're quiet for a long time and Mac is almost asleep when Dennis speaks up. 

"There's a bathroom down the hall. There's no toiletries, but we can at least wash off." 

"Mhm," Mac responds against his chest. 

***

Mac leaves and confesses his sins right after.

Mandy sees the bruises on Dennis's hips but says nothing about it.

Dennis waits for the next time Pool Boy comes over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell by the length, I got super into this prompt. Like... holy shit I loved this prompt. I may even write more, especially if anyone wants me to.


	18. Gravestone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the disappearance. Writers block is a bitch 💃🏼
> 
> SFW. Triggers: characters already dead.

Dennis is only here because his father recently died. He hadn't attended the funeral, hadn't cared to, but now he's visting his father's grave. He doesn't know why his father has a grave, really, considering he always told his children he just wanted to be cremated and thrown away, but Dennis didn't plan the funeral. His older brother did. 

He leans down and reads the name laser-cut into the stone. There's not a descriptor under the name, only the dates. He figured his brother would have had them cut something cheesy into the stone, but he can't even remember the last time he talked to his brother, so apparentally things changed. Whatever. He doesn't really care. He never liked his father much, anyway. It just felt wrong to come to town and not visit the grave. 

He's there for a few minutes, staring at the grave silently until he decides he's had enough. At least, now, when he goes home and his wife asks him if he visisted his dad, he won't have to lie about it. 

As he's trudging out of the graveyard, almost back to the front where he parked, his eyes catch the sunlight off a gravestone. He can't help but read the name.

**Mac McDonald**

A shiver runs through him before he reads the dates. He doesn't understand why, but his pace picks up going back to his car and his heart is beating fast as he climbs into the driver's seat. He takes a few deep breaths, closes his eyes for a few moments, then puts his foot on the break and takes his car out of park. 

The name follows him home. 

The longing for the person attached to the name is unusual. 

Until he has a dream about a man with floppy hair, soft brown eyes, and ugly tattoos. 

He wakes up with an ache in his chest.


	19. Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. Triggers: getting high (but it isn't much)

They're six years old, playing house with Dennis's sister and their friend Charlie. Dennis is playing the dad and Mac is playing the mom instead of Dee because of a fit thrown by Dennis. The issue is that Dennis claims the mom and dad have to kiss, but he's not going to kiss Dee, because that's his sister and therefor gross. It took some convincing and screaming, but eventually Mac agreed to be the mom. 

Charlie is their child and Dee is Charlie's aunt. 

Dennis is being bossy and so none of them are having that much fun, but Charlie is definitely having the least. Dennis has convinced him that, in the game, it's the middle of the night and it's adult time. Charlie is pretending to sleep, but whining about it. Dennis keeps telling him to shut up, which only makes him whine even more. Mac and Dee are letting it happen. 

Eventually, Dennis tells Dee that she needs to go to bed too because now it's mommy and daddy time. Mac doesn't really know what constitutes "mommy and daddy time." Dee protests heavily, shouting at Dennis, but Dennis is having none of it and his voice is louder than hers, so he wins. She goes over to where Charlie is still pretending to sleep and pouts with him.

Mac turns to Dennis. "What is Mommy and Daddy time?" 

Dennis pulls a face. "It's when we kiss and make loud noises."

"My parents don't do that." 

"Your parents don't like each other."

"Neither do yours!"

"Yes, they do! Take that back!" Dennis yells. 

"So do mine!" 

Mac sputters out another whirlwind response, but Dennis interrupts him. 

"Whatever! Just kiss me, Mac!" 

Mac stops. 

"Do we have to?" he quietly asks. 

"Yes. You're the mom and I'm the dad. We have to kiss. That's what parents do." 

Mac doesn't know if he actually wants to kiss Dennis, but he does it because he wants Dennis to throw another fit even less. 

Dennis's lips are wet. It doesn't feel nice, but at least it's short. No different than when his grandma comes over and gives him a kiss on the cheek. 

Mac wipes his lips once it's done. Dennis seems offended, but doesn't mention it. 

After the kiss, Dennis lets Dee come back and Charlie wake up. 

***

They're thirteen and hiding in a supply closet at school instead of going to the prep rally. They're getting high off the cleaning supplies without a care as to what it could do them. They're joking around and laughing and Dennis is touching him and it's impossibly warm in the closet, but they don't care. 

"Do you think Dee and Charlie are looking for us?" Mac asks. Dennis laughs, even though it's not a joke. He places his hand on top of Mac's hand. 

"Who the fuck cares? Do you want to skip the rest of your classes?" Dennis asks.

"Of course. Do you?" 

"Yeah, dipshit. Wouldn't ask if I didn't want to." 

Their eyes meet and Dennis is licking his lips. They're shiny and it makes something in Mac click. He leans in. Dennis does the same. Their lips meet and it's better than when they were six. It's still sloppy, though, and Dennis tastes like the cleaning supplies. He's not very good at moving his mouth in tandem with Mac, but Mac suspects he's not very good at it either. It's a string of messy kisses before they pull apart, both panting. 

Mac meets his eyes once he's able to catch his breath. Dennis is wearing a half smirk. 

"We're skipping just so we can keep doing that," Dennis says. 

Mac nods and pulls him back in. 

***

They're eighteen and it's prom night. They hadn't gone to their junior prom, but Dennis didn't want to miss their senior prom. Mac, however, would have been okay staying in with Dennis, getting high, and watching movies. But he lets Dennis drag him along. 

It's a slow song playing and they're dancing. Neither of them are very good at it, but none of the other students are very good either. Definitely not Dee and the date she managed to trap. They're slowly moving around, Mac focused on not stepping on Dennis's feet. Dennis has his face tucked into Mac's neck, humming along to the music. It's domestic and sweet and though Mac still thinks he'd be enjoying himself more watching movies, he wouldn't give this up for the world. 

Mac kisses Dennis's hair, tasting the hair gel and the hair spray caked into it. He smiles against it. 

Dennis stops humming and mumbles something. His voice tickles Mac's neck and Mac quietly laughs. 

"What did you say?" 

Dennis comes out. "I said don't mess up my hair." 

"Your mom worked hard on it." 

"She did," Dennis responds. He goes back into Mac's neck and Mac gently coaxes him out. 

"What?" Dennis whines. 

Mac doesn't respond except to kiss him. It's closed mouthed and dry, but it's perfect. Mac is smiling into it before they pull apart. 

"Thank you for being my prom date," Dennis says.

"Always, Den." 

***

They're thirty-three and it's their wedding day. The preist is going on about vows and making them answer questions, but they're only focusing on each other. Nothing else matters. 

The wedding was kind of out of the blue. Mac had been talking about marriage the past year and eventually Dennis decided to ask him, but they hadn't planned on marrying. Ever since they were teenagers they said they never wanted to marry because it seemed like too much trouble. 

Things change, sometimes. 

Change isn't always bad, sometimes. 

"You may kiss the groom," the preist says. 

Dennis smiles the brightest he's smiled in a while. 

Their teeth clack, but it's okay. It's still a kiss. A kiss with his husband. It's soft and sweet and worth all the trouble of the wedding. 

"I love you," Dennis says as they pull off. 

"I love you too," Mac responds. He wraps his hand into Dennis's. 

It's the first kiss of many into their married life. 

***

They're fifty-eight and it's their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. They're enjoying themselves in the quiet of their home with a bottle of wine. They haven't left their bed all day except to make food and let their dog out. According to them, it's the best way to spend the day. 

"Do you want to open your gift?" Dennis asks. 

"Of course!" 

Dennis smiles and pulls a box out from his bedside drawer. Mac takes it and feels it.

"What is it?"

"Open it, dumbass," Dennis responds. 

Mac does. 

It's a ring and it's breathtaking. 

Mac leans across so he's able to reach Dennis's lips. 

***

They're eighty and they like to think they've lived a good life together. It's not like they're dying quite yet, but they're prepared for it. They like to live all their days together, doing whatever mundane activities with each other. As long as they spend each day happy, they don't care much what they do. 

One thing Mac makes sure to do every night is kiss Dennis. No matter who falls asleep first, Mac makes sure to end each day with a kiss. It's one of the ways he lets Dennis know about his neverending love. 

Tonight, Dennis goes to bed first. Mac is up late working on his current project, so he ends up shuffling to bed at around two in the morning. Dennis is peacefully asleep. Mac brushes his teeth and changes his clothes and before he gets into bed, he leans down and places a kiss on Dennis. Mac thought he was asleep, but Dennis makes a noise into the kiss and pulls him in closer. Mac feels a flutter in his chest and he smiles. 

"I'd fuck you if it wouldn't make my bones ache," Dennis says. 

Mac laughs. "I'm too tired anyway," he says. 

Dennis kisses him again. 

The kiss is full of love. 

Mac falls asleep happy. 


	20. Mother's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 20 chapters bro!!! We gettin there! 
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

There's a lot of similarities between his mom and Mac. Overbearing, willing, manipulatable. Mac has a bit of a spark that his mom never had, though. 

There are things Mac does that remind him of his mom. Like when he comes home and Mac has a sandwich made for him, because he knows as well as Dennis's mom knew that Dennis won't eat unless food is put in front of him. 

But there are things Mac does that his mom never did. 

It mostly has to do with the love. 

His mom loves him, of course, but it's different than how Mac loves him. His mom's love started as obligatory, Mac's love didn't. Mac loves him because he wants to love him, but his mom loved him because she gave birth to him and had to take care of him so she learned to love him through it all. 

That's not to say she's a bad mom. No, she never was. She took care of him. She comes over every Christmas and hangs out with him and Mac. She accepts that he won't give her grandchildren. She probably doesn't want them, anyway. Sometimes, she brings over a container full of his favorite sandwiches from his childhood. He always makes sure to eat them before they go stale. 

But he does give one or two to Mac. He can't eat much. Mac always appreciates it. 

It's Mother's Day today. Dennis mailed her a letter and he let Mac sign it. Mac's mom died years ago and she never was a good mom to begin with, so he's attached to Dennis's mom. Probably more than Dennis is. Dennis doesn't care. 

She calls him around noon and thanks him for the card. They talk for a while, then she says she loves him, and he returns the favor.

It's not the same "I love you" as he gives Mac. The words are the same, but they come out different. 

Mac wraps his arms around his waist and presses his chest against his back. He places a kiss on the side of Dennis's neck. 

"I love you," he mumbles. Dennis responds in tandem. 

It definitely feels different. But that's okay. He loves his mother all the same. She loves him, too. Really, that's all that matters. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ill be honest i know this isnt my best work but its only 20 minutes until it isn't mother's day for me anymore and i wanted something posted for it


	21. Magazine Covers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from asymptotes: "Your writing is great, it would be cool to see Dennis as the fanboy...maybe Mac is a famous actor?"
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

"Dude, you're obsessed with him. Just look at how many magazines you own just because he's on the cover. That's insane. Like, is this a complete collection?" 

Dennis grunts at him and pulls the magazine out of his hands. Charlie doesn't hesitate to pick up another one and flip through it.

"You wouldn't understand, Charlie," Dennis grumbles.

"What? Your obsession with a celebrity? I like a few myself." He throws down the magazine and picks up yet another. 

"I'm not obsessed." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Alright, alright, calm down. Why's this different from an obsession though?" 

"It's--" he stutters over a few words, then makes a frustrated noise. "It's just complicated," he says eventually.

Charlie doesn't seem to believe him and Dennis can't stand not having Charlie believe him, so he explains more without caring to see if Charlie is listening to him. 

"It's just-- I know this dude, okay? Not in this lifetime 'cause so far this lifetime fucking sucks, but I knew him all our other lifetimes. He's fucking-- He's my best friend and I miss him."

"Hey, what am I then?!" Charlie says, obviously offended, not having listened to anything else he's said. 

"You're my best friend too, but you're not Mac."

"You don't even know him!" 

"I just told you I do!" 

"It sounded ridiculous, bro, so I tuned out."

At least he's honest. 

"You're rude as shit, dude." 

Charlie shrugs and Dennis had forgotten that he was going through magazines until Charlie starts leafing through another. 

"Yeah, well, you were boring me." 

Dennis is very clearly frustrated, but he's also used to Charlie acting this way, being a borderline awful friend, so he gets over himself quickly. 

"Whatever, Charlie, I still miss him. And I don't know what else to do to find him. Write him a letter? Message all his social media? I already live in the same city as him. All the other lifetimes we just stumble upon each other. Yet, that hasn't happened in this one." 

Charlie looks at him as if he's the dumb one here and he throws the magazine down. He doesn't pick up another.

"Why don't we just drive to his house?" 

"That's stalking, dumbass. Also, he lives in a gated community. With all the other celebrities and shit," Dennis says. 

Charlie shrugs again, subdued. "Just a suggestion." 

"I know, buddy. I know we'll find each other eventually, but I get frustrated. He's so far out of my reach." 

"People meet celebrities in random spots all the time. Maybe he'll walk past your building or something." 

That's what Dennis always hopes for. For now, all he's been able to do is keep an eye on Mac and hope that each day doesn't come with the news of Mac being in a relationship. Just because Dennis remembers doesn't mean Mac remembers.

It'll happen, he reminds himself. He'll meet his forever best friend again. 

For now, he has Charlie.

"Do you want to go get dinner?" he asks, and Charlie's face brightens. 

Who knows, maybe Mac will be at the restaurant they go to.


	22. Royalty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SFW. No triggers.
> 
> What is up guys!!!! How is everyone enjoying this year of our lord? Ive had crippling writers block since i last updated this fic and ive been working on chapters but this is the first ive managed to finish. Heres to 78 more!

"Seriously, Dennis, I don't see what you like in that peasant. You could have any royal woman in the world, and you choose a lowly man? Do you truly believe I will allow this?" 

Dennis knows he won't. His father is not kind or fair and he is definitely not someone to negotiate. It's a good thing Dennis is also someone unwilling to negotiate. 

"I am not asking for permission," Dennis responds, a glimmer in his eye and a smile on his lips. "I am only telling you my plans." 

"And you expect to follow through with these plans without the permission from the king? How do you believe that will play out?" 

"Quite well, for me." 

"Oh, you are a spoiled brat," the king exclaims. 

Dennis loves pushing his father's buttons. It's easy. The man has a short temper and a need to control every situation, while Dennis has an adequate amount of patience and a need to reject the king's control. 

"And yet I am your son." 

"Unfortunately," the king mumbles. 

"You can exile me, but you have no other kin. Do you really want your nephew to be the next ruler?" Dennis slyly says. 

He's thought long and hard about this conversation before having it. He wasn't going to go tell his father that he plans on marrying a peasant without a well thought out plan first. 

"What about children? You can't have children with a man." 

The king looks at him with smug eyes, as if Dennis hasn't thought about this before coming to his father. 

"We adopt a peasant. We show that, with my family, anyone can be royalty. You have not made a good impression with the peasants and I believe this will repair our relationship with them. We don't want them to revolt, do we?" 

The king says nothing but he frowns. He is quiet a long time, not looking happy for any of it, but his silence is a good sign. 

Dennis wasn't lying when he said he wasn't looking for approval, but it would make this all so much simpler. 

Eventually, the king speaks up. "No, I can't allow it. Maybe if you had chosen a woman, but that isn't the case, is it?" 

Fuck. He knew that would happen, but he had seemed like he was convincing his father. 

Dennis is still for a few moments, keeping level eye contact, then he bows, like he was taught by all the royal advisors that have passed through his life. 

"Then you have lost your prince," he says as he comes back up. The king says nothing as Dennis walks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this universe the clown is named after mac


	23. Do You Take This Man To Be Your Lawfully Wedded Husband, in Sickness or in Health, With or Without Fish?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in May, gloochie on Tumblr requested a chapter based on the embedded image. Gloochie, idk you're still keeping up with this fic, but here is your prompt done.
> 
> SFW. No triggers.

It gets cold at night, so close to the ocean like this. On the ocean, as it were. Late in the year, too.    
  
But they like to fish. Well, Mac does. He sees it as a manly activity. Dennis doesn't see the point. However, he still learned how to skin and cook a fish for Mac.    
  
It's not cold yet, but it's getting there. Dennis is on his third beer of the night, in a coffee mug because he's not technically allowed to drink on the beach. Even though he's on his boat. Strict rules and all.   
  
"Have you caught anything yet?" he asks, once the clouds become a little too repetitive.   
  
"Shut up, you'll scare away the fish," Mac responds, too caught up in his activity to bother looking at Dennis. Not that Dennis is paying attention to him, either. He's lounging on the front of the boat, the part that's past the windshield and houses the engine. It's a smooth place to lay and he won't get sand in his all clothes.    
  
"They can't hear me."    
  
"Yes, they can," Mac argues.   
  
"Whatever. You haven't caught anything. Let's go back to the cottage."    
  
The cottage in question is an old cottage of Mac's family. It's falling apart in every way, but there's no mortgage to pay and it's only ten minutes from the ocean, so it works out. They just make sure to repair leaks as they come. As an added plus, their neighbors pretty much leave them alone. They've been invited to one or two parties, but there's been no mention when they don't show up.    
  
"You know I don't like going back without catching anything. We're staying."    
  
"The sun is going to go down soon," Dennis tries.   
  
"Not for another hour."   
  
"I'm going to run out of beer before then."   
  
"Suck it up "    
  
"You are a horrible husband."    
  
Mac grunts in response, obviously ready to end their useless conversation.   
  
Sometimes Dennis convinces Mac not to fish. Most days he tries, but is largely unsuccessful. He's not even sure Mac likes to fish, but it was something his grandpa always did, and he adores his grandpa and how he represented being a man. He's always telling Dennis about how his grandpa would bring home a fresh fish for dinner almost every night and every night his grandma would smile because she knew that's how he expressed his love.    
  
Bringing a fish home is not how Mac expresses his love, but it's how he wants to. It's just a fish, though. Sometimes it's not even big enough to feed one of them. And the days when Mac can't catch anything, his pride is hurt and he comes home irritated, which in turn makes Dennis irritated.    
  
Dennis sits up on the hood of the boat, resting part of his weight on the windsheild, not caring that it could break. He drinks enough of his beer so that there's barely any left, and then he waits.    
  
Mac catches nothing. They leave shortly after the moon becomes their only source of light and it's cold enough that if Dennis were any skinnier, he'd be shivering.    
  
They eat microwavable meals for dinner, despite how much Mac despises them. Mac is lucky that Dennis gave him the good one, but, still, he sulks the whole night. They watch a movie after eating and it ends up being a shitty movie, so it doesn't help with Mac's mood at all. Sometimes when he's sulking, Dennis can find a funny movie and it makes him forget about the uncaught fish, but tonight the trick doesn't work. Sometimes it doesn't. Dennis has more tricks.   
  
Before Mac can get off the couch, Dennis is on his lap, placing soft kisses on his neck. It takes Mac a while to appreciate Dennis giving him attention, but once he does, he lifts his head and wraps his arms around Dennis, giving him more room. Dennis appreciates it and nuzzels into his neck.   
  
"Let me help you forget about the fish. You know I can do it. Just let me in," Dennis says, his voice tickling Mac's neck. Mac manages to ignore it.   
  
"What do you mean by 'in'?" Mac has a smile in his voice, which is invitation enough for Dennis. He makes his way to Mac's lips, planting an open mouthed kiss on them.    
  
"You know what I mean."   
  
"You're always there for me," Mac says. "Fish or not."   
  
"Shut up," Dennis says.   
  
Mac takes Dennis's cheeks in his hands and pushes him a few inches away. He looks into his eyes, searching for something. "No, I mean it. I truly do. You don't need a fish to love me."   
  
"You never brought home fish before we got married, idiot." Dennis tries to kiss him again, but Mac is holding him in place. Why did he let Mac gain so much muscle?   
  
"Yeah, but that was over five years ago. I'm a fish man now."   
  
"You're still _my_ man. Now, do you want to have sex or not?"    
  
Mac is silent, his hands unmoving, his face unredeable. Eventually, he lowers his hands and he kisses Dennis, slow and steady and sweet. "No, I want to go to bed. But maybe in the morning?"    
  
A frozen moment between them, then Mac is laughing and pushing Dennis off his lap, grabbing his hand in the process and pulling him towards their bedroom. Dennis lets himself be lead.    
  
"You truly are a horrible husband," Dennis says.   
  
"I know," Mac replies. "But sometimes I bring home fish, and I like to think that redeems me."   
  
A lopsided smile from Dennis that Mac doesn't see. "Maybe it does," he says, for his benefit more than Mac's.

**Author's Note:**

> Considering I'm gonna do a 100 of these, chapter requests will gladly be accepted in both the comments or sent through my tumblr officialbillhader.


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